Jean still hitting the right notes 10 years after BGT

"We have got 15 organs, two grand pianos, and various other instruments," she says.

It has been something of a landmark year for the Britain's Got Talent finalist from Brewood, near Wolverhampton. Ten years after winning the hearts of the nation with her jaunty performances that saw he likened to "Victoria Wood on acid" by Amanda Holden, the organist with the megawatt smile recently celebrated her 70th birthday and opened a hotel in Blackpool.

If that is not enough, she also got married last year to fellow musician Hans following a whirlwind romance while on tour in the Netherlands.

And next month she will be on the road again, after taking her performances online during the coronavirus lockdown.

Jean, who also marks 40 years as a professional musician this year, says music will be a major feature at the Blackpool Jean Martyn Hotel, where she plans to hold regular performances. She is already preparing to host an evening of celebrations on New Year's Eve.

"It's been very busy, we've got the Illuminations on until January 3," she says. "But we think a lot of people will come to the hotel just to see me play. We have got a reception room at the hotel which we going to make into a concert room, so I can do a concert once a month."

Jean is also planning to appear in pantomime next year, although she doesn't know where yet.

"It's great to be back on the road again," she says. "I have been playing throughout the pandemic by streaming live, it's been fantastic to do that, to lift people's spirits. I've been doing a show called Bingo All Stars with Linda Lusardi, Rustie Lee, Christopher Biggins and Mr Motivator.

"It's great fun, it's a bit like Name That Tune, I play a few notes of music in a totally different way to how it is normally played."

Jean, who taught at Huntington Primary and Cannock Chase High School before getting her big break on the ITV talent show, took over the hotel on her return to the UK in August. She had been performing on a concert tour in the Netherlands when Hans appeared in the front row on the first night.

"I was doing some work with the Netherlands Organ Federation, on this tour of their theatre organs, and when I got to the first concert Hans was in the audience, he came to listen to me," she says. "He came and listened to me. He looked a bit like Tony Curtis, and when I looked at him I thought 'that face looks familiar'.

"He drove to each concert, he came to hear me four times, and said 'I must see you again, I think you're lovely'. We got married in March 2020, and we've had a very happy 19 months. It shows you can find happiness late in life.

"We were married in Emmen in the Netherlands, I didn't tell a soul, it was just me and Hans. The registrar was playing one of my CDs when I walked in, it was a wonderful day."

Meeting saxophonist Hans has brought some joy to Jean, who suffered the heartbreak of losing her previous husband Bob in 2017. She had been with Bob Ware, who was also her manager, for 12 years, and the couple married in 2014. Following Bob's death, she donated £850 to Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital which she had raised in Bob's memory. She also transported her own piano to the wards so that she could bring festive cheer to patients ahead of Christmas.

But while she found love during her tour of the Netherlands, returning home proved to be more problematic due to coronavirus restrictions.

"I had sold my bungalow before I went on tour, but then I couldn't get back due to the pandemic," she says.

Lichfield-born Jean started playing the piano at the age of three, and had a degree in piano music by the age of 15, and a second one for jazz by the age of 21.

"Music was in the family, my mum was a violinist and a pianist and my grandfather was a clarinettist," she says.

"I entertained customers in my parents’ Post Office. While they were queuing for stamps, I’d play the piano at the back of the shop and rip off Russ Conway’s Side Saddle. They rewarded me with pocket money."

While she is best known for a foot-stomping organ performances, she says the piano is her favourite because it allows for greater self-expression. She is hugely proud of her Steinway grand piano.

As a youngster she dreamed of being a concert pianist in an orchestra, but found there were no openings.

"I decided the best way to use my talent was to teach primary school children," she says. "I lost my passion for teaching when the kids asked me who Beethoven was. I retired at 55 and decided that if I hadn’t made it as a celebrity by the time I was 60, I’d give up. I wanted to have a stab at stardom and reach the top of my profession."

Jean auditioned for the Britain's Got Talent at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, and her performance in her first live audition earned her a standing ovation with an impressed Michael McIntyre declaring that she had ‘rocked’ the stage. Amanda Holden described her as "Victoria Wood on acid". In the final, flames shot out of the stage as she performed Jerry Lee Lewis's Great Balls of Fire.

She performed at Birmingham’s NIA as part of the UK-wide Britain’s Got Talent tour. On her 60th birthday she was about to go out onto stage at the O2 Arena in London when she received the news that her mother had died.

"I could hear her voice saying ‘Get out there and give it your all’," she says. "I gave the performance of my life and afterwards everyone rose to their feet. It was a lovely tribute to her."

Jean’s fame continued to shine brightly as she appeared on Channel 5's Big Brother, ITV's Loose Women, and The Paul O’Grady Show. She also played at St James’s Palace and Buckingham Palace, a highlight being a performance in front of the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince Andrew at the 2018 Royal Windsor Horse Show. She has also accompanied the late Dame Vera Lynn.

Jean says she hopes to return to the Midlands for a concert soon, and is delighted that the organ at St Peter's Collegiate Church in Wolverhampton has finally been restored after a lengthy fundraising appeal.

"It is about time, it is a beautiful organ," she says. "I would love to be able to play on it one day."

And she is delighted with her new Yamaha EL900, which is identical to the one she played on Britain's Got Talent.

"I took that one on tour a lot, but this one won't be going anywhere," she says.